Romney accepts GOP's nomination

TAMPA, Florida -- Republican Mitt Romney moved into the critical final stretch of his campaign to unseat U.S. President Barack Obama, telling voters in his most important speech to date that they can "trust him to restore the promise of America," but he offered few details about his plans to fix an ailing economy and a politically divided nation.

The former Massachusetts governor accepted his party's presidential nomination Thursday night with a speech that repeatedly brought the partisan crowd to its feet in the final act of the 2012 Republican National Convention, which featured speech after speech lambasting Obama for his economic failures and promising to deny him a second term.

"America has been patient," Romney told millions in the nationally televised speech. "Americans have supported this president in good faith. But today, the time has come to turn the page."

Romney outlined lofty goals — making the U.S. energy independent, slashing the deficit and creating 12 million jobs — but did not say how he would do it.

He also seemed to make light of Obama's concerns about the earth's deteriorating environment and climate change.

"President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans. And to heal the planet. My promise is to help you and your family," Romney said in a mostly inward-looking speech that focused on domestic affairs.

Romney failed to mention the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or how to cope with illegal immigration.

The normally reserved Romney capped the high-energy convention with a spirited and unusually personal speech, touching on his Mormon faith and recounting his youth. The cheers were loud and frequent, surely music to the ears of a candidate who struggled throughout the bruising primary season and beyond to bury doubts among many in his party that he is an authentic conservative.

"Now is the time to restore the promise of America," Romney declared to a nation struggling with high unemployment and the slowest economic recovery in decades.